


The Unpolished Gem

by ilikejungles



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2018-12-15 18:19:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11811609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilikejungles/pseuds/ilikejungles
Summary: Ruby Rose dies after Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Neopolitan attack Beacon's Dormitory. 3 years later, Velvet finds something interesting and reports it to Ozpin. Note: This means that the entire destroying and taking over of Beacon does not take place.





	1. Where are you?

**Author's Note:**

> This might be like any one of my other works were I said I was going to continue but didn't. I'm a very spontaneous person I might continue it I might not.

“Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, and Neopolitan. You are mobilized for operation: Roses are red. Mission objective is to capture hostage alive. Lethal force is unauthorized. Be quick and good luck.”

 

-One Month Later-

“Headmaster Ozpin please….” Glynda walked off the podium. Ozpin took the place of Glynda, “Thank you, Glynda. As all of you students may know, we are here today to mourn the loss of Ruby Rose, team leader of team RWBY, a great friend to many, and a role model for future Hunters and Huntresses. She has sacrificed many things to be where she was, aside from being two years younger than our first-year students. She showed maturity on many levels, sacrificing time to help those in need, putting herself in dangers way, and most recently, sacrificing her life to save many more. To her friends and family, I grieve along with you and I’m sorry for not being able to protect her. Thank you all for being here.” Ozpin delivered the speech in a calm voice but his eyes expressed many emotions mostly of sadness.

 

_In team RWBY’s bed room_

Blake was curled up on Ruby’s bed sobbing unable to cope of the sudden loss of the hyperactive, fun-filled and cheery leader. Weiss was constantly writing down notes for tests and making entries in her diary. All to keep herself working and not breakdown. Yang? Nowhere to be seen. Her valuables still in the room. She left a note reading, ‘No need to look for me. I’m going home.’

 

-A year later-

Team WBY were still together, only because they begged Ozpin to let them be the first team with only three members. They continued learning and fighting together, but they still felt that things were still too serious. With Ruby gone, teams who interacted with her often felt the same. There was no one to break the silence at times. No more rose petals found in the middle of the hallway. No more tempting Ruby with cookies. Even when Nora tried her best, things were sometimes out of her power to change.

 

-3 years after the incident-

Ozpin walked toward the dorm room of team WBY, he stopped at their door and sighed before knocking twice. Shouting could be heard beyond the door before it was finally swung open by Yang. “Yea, yea I got it Snow Queen.” “Miss Xiao Long.” “Heyyyy, it’s old man Ozpin. What’s up?” “Something came up that has not been reported upon. It might prove interesting to you.” Yang raised an eyebrow. Ozpin passed her a picture of a cloaked figure standing still, “Are you trying to get me into photography? You know I can’t stand waiting any amount of time before taking a picture.”

“ _This._ Miss Xiao Long was taken by Velvet Scarlaltina. She doesn’t take meaningless photographs.” “Anddddd this involves me because?” “It involves you **and** your team. Velvet was sent on a mission to kill grimm for a small village but was beaten by to it by this person.” Yang looked at the photo more carefully before signalling for Ozpin to continue. “Velvet told me they carried around a weapon similar to Cresent Rose but never used it to kill any of the grimm they fought.” Yang’s eyes widened and aimed her gaze toward Ozpin. “Yanggggg, what’s ke-….. Headmaster Ozpin.” Weiss had to change the tone of her voice after meeting the gaze of Ozpin.

“It’s Ruby.” Weiss tilted her head before questioning, “You sure Yang? I don’t me-“ “It’s her.” Blake replied for Yang, “It seems Miss Belladonna can tell you how serious Miss Xiao Long is about this situation.” Weiss raised an eyebrow but decided not to press any further. “Team WBY, before I leave I can tell you two things. One, this person is either in Vale or close by. Two, be very, _very_ careful if you come into contact with them.” Ozpin turned on his heel before walking away.


	2. Starting the mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team WBY decide to act and seek their "deceased" leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too sure how this is going to turn out but please do let me know if you see a mistake or even just saying whether you liked this chapter or not. Thanks.

“Yang? Yang! What are you doing?” Weiss questioned impatiently

“We have a lead, sure. But the point is it might not even be your sister. It could be some person with a perverted sense of humour who decided to mess with us.”

Yang didn’t stop for a second to argue with Weiss. She knew what Weiss was saying could be true but it didn’t matter, if that person was trying with mess with her, she would beat them until they begged for forgiveness.

“There’s no use trying to plan this out when it involves Yang’s sister. All this time we thought she was dead, we were moving on. But Yang, _she_ was the only with a shred of hope that her sister was still alive.” Blake mentioned nonchalantly whilst reading her book.

Weiss just sighed before picking up a suitcase and opening her scroll. Yang glanced at Weiss and raised an eyebrow as if to ask what she was doing, “I’m coming with you, duhhhh?”. Yang opened her mouth about to speak but decided against it, not wanting to anger Weiss, “You coming, Blake?” Weiss inquired, only to realize Blake was leaning against the door frame, “All ready.”.

 

_At the Bullhead landing strip_

As team WBY were waiting for a bullhead that was headed towards the outskirts of Vale, Ozpin walked up towards Weiss. “Miss Schnee.” He greeted politely before Weiss turned around,

“Headmaster Ozpin. What are you doing here?”

“I thought I’d see one of my best teams off on their first hostage rescue mission.” Ozpin then handed Weiss a folder.

“What do you mean mission? This is something we’re doing out of our own will.”

“True. However, I have brought this issue up to some of my colleagues. General Ironwood, Qrow Branwen, Glynda Goodwitch, and I, have all decided to make this your mission. There will be no consequence should you fail. Be successful, and you’ll be praised as the bravest Huntresses.”

Team WBY were confused as to why Ozpin would even bring this up to the other people but decided not to question it as they knew this was how Ozpin loved to do things. The wind picked up as a Bullhead was hovering over them.

“Your Bullhead is here. Good luck, team WBY.” Ozpin remarked before walking back toward the school.

 

_In the Bullhead_

Yang removed her dark beige jacket to reveal her muscular and tattooed arms. Her left arm had the tattoo of fire climbing up from her wrists to her shoulder. Her right arm was covered in rose and rose petals, rose petals scattered around her fore arm and the stalks of roses on her upper arm. She caressed her right arm before whispering, “I’ll find you, Ruby. Don’t you worry, your bigger sister is on her way.”

Weiss sat on Yang’s Right while Blake sat on the left of Yang. With no one else on the Bullhead except their team, they could openly discuss their plan of action.

“Okay, what’s our plan?” Weiss asked to break the silence

“We choose towns to go to. Cover as much ground as we can. We find my sister and we get her back to Beacon.” Yang voiced.

Blake pulled out a map and showed it to Weiss and Yang. Blake pointed to a town right before Vale’s outskirts.

“That’s our landing area. There are three village in the proximity. We could go to the closest one before making our way to the other two.” Blake proclaimed.

“That’ll take too long. We split up to cover those three villages faster and meet up at the third village. If anything were to happen and one of us doesn’t show up within 2 days, travel to their village. Weiss will take the closest village, I’ll take the furthest village. Leaving Blake with the middle village, Understood?” Yang stated.

Weiss and Blake nodded, both not questioning because they knew Yang wanted to find her Younger sister as fast as possible.

 

_In a village_

As a hooded figure walked into a blacksmith shop, the blacksmith greeted, “Welcome! Whaddya need?”

The hooded figure put an intricately folded weapon onto the counter, “Can you dismantle this?” Came a soft and high pitched voice.

The blacksmith picks up the weapon, examines it, and presses a button, which transforms it into a scythe, “Whoa! This is an extraordinary weapon. Are you sure you want me to dismantle it?”

The hooded figure only nodded before placing a sheet of paper onto the counter. It had written instructions on how to dismantle the weapon, as well as what the hooded figure wanted the blacksmith to do.

“You know how to dismantle it yet you want me to dismantle it? Hey, I’m not judging but this might take a while and a little money.” The blacksmith stated

The hooded figure nodded and passed him an envelope, inside was 25 thousand lien. The blacksmith raised an eyebrow but decided to take up the offer.

“Give me at most 2 days. I’ll get it done.” And with the blacksmith saying that, the hooded figure walked out of the shop.


	3. Laser Pointer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team WBY finally landed and have split up to find their presumed dead team leader. Blake reaches her village first and meets someone interesting.

_At the landing site_

The Bullhead hovered over the site making sure that there was nothing obstructing their landing before finally descending onto the landing pad. The three women thanked the pilot and co-pilot before stepping off and waving goodbye to them.

 

“I hope both of you are in your best condition, this is going to be one hell of a ride. We will no longer be connected by our scrolls, so everything we’ve trained for will be tested here. We will spend at least a day travelling. Be on your guard. Good luck babes, we’re going to need it.” Yang addressed.

 

Blake and Weiss nodded in unison before kissing Yang on the cheek and running their separate directions. Yang, smiled after receiving the kisses, turned towards the direction of her allocated village and began jogging.

 

_In an unknown place_

“Have you found her yet?” A voice questioned. The voice was smooth, velvety and yet was cold as ice.

 

“No, Cinder. She was far too fast for us to keep up. But we do have information about her previous team members.” Another voice said

 

“Tell me, Emerald. What good is this information?” Cinder prompted

 

“They have landed on the outskirts of Vale and are headed toward three different villages. We suspect they are trying to find _Her_ as well.” Emerald responded with a shaky voice.

 

Cinder raised an eyebrow before giving her instructions, “Emerald, I need you to help me carry on information to Neo. But before that, get Mercury here.”

 

_In the village_

The hooded figure entered the village with the intent of resting in her room but was welcomed by the sight of the chief of the village. The chief was a short man who was in his 50s, he was waving for the hooded figure to come towards him.

 

“Yes chief? How can I help you?” The hooded figure asked

 

“You’ve done a lot for our little village, my dear. But it seems that you haven’t taken any of our rewards. Why is that so, child?” The chief questioned with worry in his voice.

 

“I couldn’t possibly accept your rewards, Chief! All of you have already shown me so much love and have taken care of me already. A place to stay and food to eat is all I ask for. The rewards should be given to someone in more need.” The hooded figure answered cheerily.

 

“Very well, my dear. But do know that if you need anything more please do tell us.” The chief told the hooded figure.

 

“Aye, aye Chief.” The hooded figure saluted and walked toward the inn.

 

-One day later-

_In the first village_

Blake arrived at her allocated village where she was greeted by the morning chatter. The entrance was nothing grand, it was simply a sign that read, ‘Welcome to Kuroi Hana Village’. Blake walked past the sign and looked around herself. The houses were big enough to fit a family of four, the outside of every house was different, colour-wise and decoration-wise. In the middle of the village sat what seemed to be the chief’s house, it was slightly bigger than the other houses. The chief’s house was surrounded with different flora, there were stalls situated everywhere in the village. The villagers were talking to each other and young children were playing. Blake felt a little homesick at the sight and sound of Kuroi Hana village.

Before Blake could explore the village further, she saw a hooded figure wandering around the stalls, the hood was red like roses with a few holes here and there. The figure was on the opposite side of town from Blake, and was moving through the crowd effortlessly. Yet, not once did the figure look towards Blake’s direction. Blake decided to use this to her advantage, she made her way through the village making sure she didn’t hit anyone. The figure stopped moving in front of a stall selling pastries, Blake was just a little surer it was Ruby at the sight. She moved a little quicker towards the figure, but was caught off guard when the figure turned towards Blake.

Blake’s amber eyes met the figure’s silver ones. The figures’ eyes widened before rushing through the crowd. Blake followed suit and broke into a sprint in attempts to catch the figure. Blake was getting close. Closer. Closer. Right before Blake could grab a hold of the figure, they darted into an alleyway. Blake turned to face the alleyway but was met with nothing but rose petals in the air.

Blake stopped in her tracks and started panting, she was disappointed in herself for allowing them to get away. “I’m not even sure it’s her but they’re exactly like her. Cookies. Silver eyes. Rose petals. Fuck, it’s got to be her.” Blake thought to herself, she started walking trying to catch her breath.

_In a house_

Two pairs of eyes followed Blake around the village, one pair red and the other pair grey,“This is exactly like playing with a cat. We have a laser pointer and she’s biting the bait just like we planned. Don’t you think so, Emerald?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not been writing recently, forgive me. But now I'm back into it a little more so I might write more of this, maybe not depending on my creativity.


	4. Hiding in plain sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss has gotten to her village and meets someone rather eerie. Has Weiss found her leader?

-Two days after Team WBY landed-

_Somewhere in the forest_

Weiss was staring at the map unsure on where she was supposed to go. Weiss looked at the compass she brought along, “The village should be North-East of me, but somehow it isn’t there? What on earth is going on?” Weiss sighed while shaking her head, disappointed in herself for not being able to find a village.

Weiss sat down below the nearest tree, as she leaned against it, she saw a rose swaying with the wind. She pulled it from the ground and put it to her nose, the smell brought her back to the times where Ruby would be filling the silence, the times where Ruby would be obnoxiously loud, the times when Ruby would kiss Weiss on the cheek just for a blush. The time when Ruby used to be alive. She opened her eyes and looked up, nothing was out of the ordinary. The rustling of leaves, the breeze caressing her face.

But out of the blue, there were footsteps that were approaching her. Weiss picked up on the sound and readied Myrtenaster. However, the footsteps were far too light to be of a Grimm and far too slow to be of an attacker. Weiss didn’t let her guard down since she didn’t fancy getting robbed or injured. She turned around slowly, squeezing tightly on Myrtenaster, and surveyed the area. Her eyes searched for the source of the sound until she saw, a hooded figure. A red cloak with black boots, strolling around the forest. Weiss observed but didn’t make a sound, the hooded figure stopped in their tracks and stuck its hand out as if trying to find something.

Suddenly, a forcefield of sorts lifted and revealed an entire village bustling with people. Weiss was taken aback, ‘An entire village hidden from sight, extraordinary. No sound leaked out while the forcefield was up.’.

Roars were heard somewhere near the village, Weiss identified it as a pack of Beowolves. True enough, a group of four Beowolves showed up a few feet away from the village. Before Weiss could react, more Beowolves showed up. Two more groups of Beowolves came out of hiding. Weiss didn’t trust herself to be able to take down all twelve Beowolves with out them reaching the village, but she knew that it would be better if she just tried her best. As soon as the Beowolves started to make a move, Weiss pulled Myrtenaster from its sheath and ran toward the village entrance.

When Weiss reached the entrance, a short old man used his walking cane to stop her. “Do not trouble yourself with such awful beings.

You’re still young and pretty, do not fight them.” The old man said

Only to be replied with, “Your village is in danger Mister. How can you let them attack it like that?”. The old man chuckled.

“Who said I would let my village fall? How about turning around and look at what happened?”

Weiss snapped her head around only to see all the Beowolves surrounding the hooded figure, her instincts took over and began casting a glyph, only for her to realize Myrtenaster was no longer in her possession. The old man had snatched it out of her hand and used it to point at the hooded figure. Weiss watched bracing herself for the worst, but she then realized the Beowolves stopped their advancement and growling. They stopped entirely, it was as if time had stopped for them. The hooded figure then vanished leaving behind a trail of rose petals, before reappearing behind the old man. The Beowolves fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, before slowly turning into black smoke.

Weiss stared at the hooded figure, almost certain it was her presumably dead leader.

“My dear, you’ve done it again. Saved the village, how about finally accepting our rewards?”

“You know my answer, Chief!” The hooded figure said in a cheery voice.

“Yes, yes dear. Staying at the inn and having food to eat is enough for you.” The old man sighed before chuckling and walking away.

“Aye, aye!” The hooded figure saluted.

“Ruby?” Weiss asked while staring at the hooded figure, she couldn’t see their face, ‘Just a little more….’

 “Who?” The hooded figure replied whilst walking away.

“Ruby Rose. Leader of team RWBY. Owner of Crescent Rose. Student of Beacon academy. Killed in combat three years ago, and……. The one I loved.” Weiss answered in a depressed tone.

“Ex-leader of team RWBY. She’s dead isn’t she? So maybe you should carry out what ever duties you have here. Huntress.” The hooded figure retorted.

“What’s your name then?”

“None of your business.”

“And my friends say I had an attitude. Geez, they should see you.”

“You have an attitude. You have serious anger management issues especially when someone brings up the topic, of your ex-leader’s death. It’s obvious when I tell you, that she was useless to the team. She didn’t bring people together, she didn’t lead, and she was hopeless from day one.”

Weiss clenched her fists, she stared at the hooded figure. She was on the offense from those words. How could a random person tell her that? They didn’t know Ruby like she did. They didn’t work with Ruby like she did. They didn’t like Ruby like she did.

“How **DARE** you? You know **NOTHING** about Ruby Rose! You’re worse than any criminal, you help defend a village yet you say bad things about people you don’t even know personally! You better beg for forgiveness right now before I shove Myrtenaster up your fucking ass!”

“You’ve really let yourself go, huh? To think you used to be so upright and snarky. Look at you now, _Weiss_.”

The way the person said her name made Weiss shiver. It was ice cold, and obviously belonged to a woman. The person’s voice was nothing like Ruby’s and yet there was this strange feeling that it was Ruby. Puberty could have hit her way later than the average girl. The only thing that made her doubt it was Ruby, was the fact she didn’t have her weapon. But before anything else could be said, the hooded figure vanished leaving on Rose petals.

Weiss picked one petal up, observed it and kept it in her pocket.

“I wish you were here to make things lively again. Ruby.” Weiss muttered to herself, before proceeding to the inn.

 

_In an unknown location_

“Report.” Cinder demanded

“We have located target Shadow. What are our instructions?” Emerald replied

“Make sure they do not meet. We cannot allow them to put their pieces together.”

“Yes, Cinder. However, what are you going to be doing?”

“Oh. Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be out finding _my_ little red.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too sure on the quality of this chapter. Please do give me feedback if you do have any. Also I hope you enjoyed!


	5. What have they done to you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang decided to rest for a little while, it would slow her down. Or did it?

-three days after the landing of team WBY-

_In the forest_

Yang had never been the one who enjoyed walking side by side with nature, she only did when her younger sister requested for her to follow along. But now that Ruby isn’t around anymore she hasn’t been so in touch with nature in a long time. Yang felt at home in the forest, she couldn’t pin point why. It might have been because it was serene and quiet. Maybe it was the amount of times Ruby asked her to tag along. Or maybe it was because this was the kind of place she would retreat to with Weiss and Blake just to look at the stars. Whatever it was, Yang was enjoying her walk even if it has been three days.

Yang wasn’t tired but she did want to enjoy the peace for a little longer. She decided to sit down below a tree just for a little while. She had brought a small drawstring bag with not many items inside. It was mostly ammunition for her weapon, Ember Celica, but she did bring some Lien just in case. She did bring two other things with her, a pack of cigarettes and a pocket lighter. She sighed knowing that if Blake or Weiss found out she had brought this, she would be in hot water. She kicked the habit a year ago, but Yang wasn’t think about getting back into it. She just brought this along just in case she was a little too on edge.

She pulled out both items and without stopping to think, Yang hit the bottom of the pack on her palm. “Some habits never really die huh?” Yang thought to herself. She then opened the pack and took out a stick, held it with her lips and flipped the lighter open. She lit the cigarette, closed the lighter and took a long puff. She then pulled the cigarette out of her lips using her index and middle finger and blew grey smoke out of her mouth.

The wind whistled, the leaves rustled and dried leaves flew. Yang took another puff before closing her eyes. She focused herself on how she got here. She remembered when she got accepted into Beacon, how her father and younger sister were almost as excited as she was. She was on a Bullhead and recognized her younger sister in there, she was of course happy. She got to spend more time with Ruby. She had been catapulted into the Emerald Forest, fighting alongside her future teammates and friends. Team RWBY was formed and they were well known for being caught up in many battles. Then, Beacon was attacked after the 2 on 2 battles of the Vytal Festival. Just like that, Ruby disappeared. No signs of who took Ruby, only signs of who attacked Beacon. The White Fang.

Yang reopened her eyes only to be met with a figure standing relatively close to her. Red cloak, black battle skirt and long-sleeved blouse. Black hair that faded to red at the tips, fair skin, curious face. The figure then looked at Yang. Yang rubbed her eyes, and stared into Silver ones. Ruby.

Yang stood up as fast as she could and tackled Ruby. Both Yang and Ruby hit the floor, Ruby stroked the back of her older sister. Soft sobs could be heard, Yang couldn’t believe that she found her. Her precious little sister in the forest.

-A few minutes later-

Yang finally stopped her sobbing and sat up allowing Ruby to sit up as well.

“I-I can’t believe you’re he-here. Where ha-have you be-been?” Yang questioned while slowing her breathing

Ruby took out a note pad and started scribbling furiously. After she was done, she handed Yang the notebook. The note read, “I was captured by the White Fang. They wanted to use me as leverage before finally deciding to try and train me as a secret weapon.”

Yang’s brows furrowed, “Wh-what did they do to you? Did the-they hurt you?”. Ruby took back the notepad, turned the page and scribbled even more. The new note read, “They forced me into following orders, they trained me like I’ve never been before. They kept me constantly fighting. It was like school except all fighting.”

Yang after reading the note, thought for a few seconds, her eyes slowly turned red. Ruby saw it and immediately grabbed Yang’s hand. She scribbled more on the notepad, “I was tortured but because of it, I am here with you now. Also………. They took out my voice box……… I can’t speak anymore.”

Yang read and read, re-read even. Yang then broke down once again, disappointed in herself that she wasn’t strong enough to stop any of this. She blamed herself for everything that happened to Ruby. But she didn’t want to spoil the reunion by telling her younger sister.

 

-

_In an unknown location_

“Everything is finally in place. Now it’s time to make them disappear with red mists.” Cinder remarked to herself

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been really slow about this mainly because I was not really into writing for a little while. But I'm back now, please do give me any feedback. I'd really love to improve. Thank you!


	6. What's next?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Ruby haven't found where the village is yet, but Blake and Weiss are already headed their way. How will they meet? Will they even meet?

_In an unknown area_

"Cinder, we bring back good and bad news." Emerald whimpered

 

Cinder glanced at her with lazy eyes,"What news do you bring to me?"

 

"Good news is that, all three of our targets have been found and are being tracked no matter where they go. Shadow, Snow White and Gold"

 

"You haven't found  ** _Her?"_**

 

"N..no Cinder, we haven't."

 

Cinder flared her nose and exhaled, "Fine, where are the three as of now?"

 

"Gold hasn't found the village, Snow White and Shadow are both heading towards the village Gold was supposed to be in."

 

"This would have been made so much easier if only........"

 

"My apologies, Cinder. I let my guard down"

 

"Start making preparations before we engage them. Make sure we take them on one by one. Split them up as much as possible. Go."

 

"Very well, Cinder." 

_In the forest_

Blake has been chasing a trail of rose petals but something felt very odd. Some how she was always one step behind but knowing how Ruby was, she'd be in the dust with no sign of her. Blake has been seeing afterimages of Ruby, this shouldn't be possible. Blake had decided to put chasing Ruby aside and put reaching Yang as number one priority.

 

Weiss had gotten some rest and restocked on water and food. With her necessities out of the way, she decided to make her way towards where Yang was. She had been feeling a little too down for her liking. Not having Blake or Yang was one thing, but being constantly reminded of what the person said about her and how she said it, has been haunting her. Weiss packed what ever she had and made a move towards the next village.

 

Yang and Ruby had been searching for the village that Yang was supposed to meet up with the other two was no where to be seen. Yang was a little unnerved but decided to press on for the search. She wanted to rest and also make meeting the other two way easier. She didn't want to make Blake and Weiss worried with her absence. But no signs of life have been found, Yang had deduced only three possibilities. Either the village was further ahead, the village didn't exist in the first place or the village was destroyed by Grimm or unknown circumstances.

 

_In an unknown place_

"Emerald. Move to the village as fast as you can, we need to convince the people that we are fighting on their behalf. We do not want potential surprise attacks." Cinder commanded, Emerald nodded and dashed off.

"Mercury, try to throw all three of them off track by any means except engagement of the enemy. They each have their hopes up meaning we would not able to crush them at all." Mercury smiled and bolted out the exit.

Cinder smiled slyly before reciting to herself,

"Red were your cheeks  
 pink were your lips  
 silver were your eyes  
 I want to be with you every eclipse  
 You're always running through my mind  
 I just want you to be mine."

 

_In the second village_

"You're back! I'm not sure how well I did it but I tried as much as I could to follow your instructions." The Blacksmith remarked

The figure slipped the new weapon out, observed it and tested it out. The figure reassembled the weapon and pushed a button, the weapon transformed into the same scythe as before just quicker. The figure smiled, nodded and slipped the blacksmith another envelope before walking out the door. The blacksmith felt a chill go down his spine, but the figure paid well. He glanced at the new envelope curiously, he picked it out and opened it up. It was merely a letter, however, the information on it was alerting enough for him to run out of his shop and toward the chief's house. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had no motivation to write recently, so yeahhhhhh. It's been a while, I'm sorry. Well here it is, I do hope you enjoy. Please do give criticism and tell me if you enjoy this. I'll try my hardest to keep my writing relatively frequent.


	7. Things just got exciting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake just got some valuable information, she doesn't know how she's going to deal with.

-Four days after the landing of team WBY-

 

_In the forest_

Blake was approximating how long before she came into contact with Yang, if she was correct it would take her about another 2 hours before she met Yang. However, she felt like she was being watched and followed, even after making clones to run in many different directions she was still being follow. It was almost as if...... they knew where she was going. Blake decided enough was enough and that she would have to confront who ever was here. She stopped dead in her tracks and observed her surroundings, nothing was off yet she knew the stalker stopped as well. She closed her eyes and decided to let her ears do the work. She slowed her breathing and listened to everything, trying to find the smallest bit of information. She waited and waited..... and waited. 

Her ears perked up and she picked up a small sign of breathing, she waited a little longer and heard a soft dragging of shoes on wood. She opened her eyes and turned towards the direction of the sounds. She saw a shadow before it disappeared, but before Blake to do anything more she heard moving behind her. A woman, tall, red hair, green eyes, in full armor. Pyrrha. "Pyrrha? What are you doing here?" Blake squinted her eyes and questioned. "Oh, Blake! I was uhhhh sent on a mission by Ozpin to come here." Pyrrha answered nervously.

"Have you been following me?" Blake tried to get more information out of Pyrrha.

"Nooooooo, why would I do that? I have my own mission." Pyrrha rubbed the back of her neck.

"Hmmmmm, alright I'll trust you under one condition. What was Ruby's favorite part about you?" Blake pried.

"Uhhhhh I don't remember, it was a really long time ago." Pyrrha was caught off guard from the question.

"So tell me, Emerald. What business do you have with me?" Blake readied her weapon.

"Huh? Emerald? I'm Pyrrha. Blake, are you okay?" Pyrrha hesitantly asked. 

" **Enough** with the games, Emerald. I know it's you." Blake raised Gambol Shroud.

Pyrrha sighed and then dissipated into thin air only to reveal Emerald. 

"Alright, you got me. Guess I should have known that Ruby and you would have a strong connection." Emerald reluctantly admitted.

"Emerald Sustrai, in a team with Cinder Fall and Mercury Black. What business do you have being here." Blake circled Emerald as if she was prey.

"I could ask you the same question, Blake. Why would a team like yours come all the way out here?" Emerald smirked, she was confident that she would get Blake to lose track of her original path.

"I'm on a mission with my team. Our objective is confidential, but I do have a suspicion that you're here to distract me from that object because it is the same as yours. If I am correct the reason you're here if because Cinder requested for you to fool me into thinking that Ruby was still alive. In that case, I can tell you you've failed." Blake was staking her information to get confirmation on her reasoning.

Emerald furrowed her brows, unsure of how to reply. Confronting Blake might not have been a good idea. She might have been a good liar but Blake's detective work was at a whole new class of its own. Emerald hadn't even said much but Blake somehow got a rough idea on why she was there. 

"As I suspected, and now I suspect you're the reason Ruby isn't with us." Blake was trying to control her emotions, the information that had been implied was making her angry. She wanted to attack right now but she knew it wouldn't be a good idea. 

"One thing that I can say now is, you're not going to get out of here alive." Emerald didn't want this conversation to last any longer if not she'd be killed. 

Emerald grabbed her weapon and did a back flip to get as much distance as she could. During her back flip, Emerald fired her weapons at Blake to try injure and slow Blake down. Blake was much to quick to be hit but the aerobics did put Blake at the disadvantage. Emerald started to run, Blake followed suit. Both women firing their weapons back and forth, Emerald decided to make her escape through using her semblance. To Blake, there were beowolves and ursas surrounding her, but in reality there was nothing but air. Blake stood still and started to plan her attack, but something was off. There was no way that there could be this many grimm attack her but not Emerald. That's when it hit her, they weren't actually there. She ran through all of them, she pushed away her instinct to fight or block attacks. It worked the grimm couldn't even block her let alone hit her. But by the time she did this, Emerald was no where to be seen. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, I haven't written in forever but yeah I just binge wrote these.


	8. Outrageous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss found Ruby or so she thought. But who she thought was Ruby was not who she seemed.

-4 days after the landing of team WBY-

_In the forest_

Weiss had been walking through the forest constantly looking at the map. She didn't want to run since it would make her much more tired than she already was. She needed to preserve her energy, she felt annoyed at the fact that she could have gotten Ruby back but was too scared to made her angry. Not at anyone, but at herself. She had faced off so many other people who were, bigger, taller, stronger than her but yet. The figure seemed too scary for her. 

As she was walking something attracted her attention. Coughing and wincing. She raised her brows and decided to investigate. She tiptoed past a few trees, and the sound got louder. She continued down her path and saw the same figure leaned up against a tree. Weiss hunkered down and observed the figure's actions. The figure had violent coughing fits, and they constantly put pressure onto their left arm. Weiss didn't move trying not to alert the person, the figure looked around, scanning for something. The figure then coughed again but this time was violent enough to make the figure slip off the support of the tree. Weiss couldn't take it anymore and ran toward the figure. The figure's silver eyes widened as they saw Weiss approach. The figure used their right hand to push themselves up before coughing again, this time blood escaped their mouth. 

"Hey! What happened? Did you get injured?" Weiss asked with concern in her voice.

"Ack, what do  _you_ want. I'm f-fine" The figure replied and coughed again.

"You're not okay. God, can't you just admit that?" Weiss was annoyed but helped the figure sit back up. The figure had a mask of grimm on their face, only showing their eyes.

"It doesn't matter if I admit it or not. I just time alone." The figure tried to dismiss Weiss.

"Well, why don't you just go back to the village and recuperate. It's safe and they welcome you." Weiss stated.

"That's not the point. They don't have the ingredients to help me. Plus if they knew I was ill, they would be worried and drawing only more grimm." The figure said before sighing.

"Can you at least take off your mask so I can actually talk to a person." Weiss questioned.

"No. No one is allowed t-" Before the figure could say any more, Weiss took off the mask forcefully. Pale skin, silver eyes, pink lips, red tinted hair. It sure looked like Ruby.

"Ruby, why didn't you just come back to Beacon. Things would have been so much easier." Weiss let up her strict attitude.

"You don't understand.  _Schnee_. You are in danger." Ruby said.

"Why aren't you just calling me by my name?" Weiss was shocked as to why Ruby called her by her family name.

"Because,  _I_ am not Ruby Rose." The person coughed again

"I'm Ilia Amitola. Part of the White Fang." Ilia stated

"But you look exactly like Ruby?" Weiss was extremely confused. Ilia sighed and let her skin turn back to the brown it once was. Her hair too turned back to its natural brown and finally her eyes went from silver to gray. 

"Now explain to me how you can have two semblances?" Weiss was slightly less confused but was unsure how a person could have Ruby's semblance.

"I was transfused with Ruby's aura and slowly came her semblance. But I have not done the procedure for very long. Only surviving through small injections." Ilia coughed once more, blood followed once again.

"Why did you even let yourself go through this process? And why did you let yourself get seen at the village where Velvet was assigned to?" Weiss asked, she gave herself a mental note that the White Fang had such advanced technology.

"Velvet? Who's Velvet?" Ilia's brows furrowed

Before any more conversation could be made, a kick came from behind Weiss. Weiss ducked in time but it hit Ilia square in the face. The cracking of bone could be heard as the leg made contact with Ilia's face. Blood spewed out, Weiss' eyes widen in fear and shock, and the leg retracted. Weiss jumped away as fast as she could, and she saw the person. Mercury Black.

"Well damn. I missed one of them. Guess she won't be talking anymore." Mercury mentioned nonchalantly.

"Y-you just killed your friend. How  **could** you" Weiss was pissed

"Well to be fair, she wasn't a friend first of all. Second of all, she was no longer of any use. Lastly, she revealed some confidential information." Mercury shrugged 

"You  **killed** an unarmed and sick person. You're a  **monster**." Weiss gripped Myrtenaster

"So? You think I never killed before? Oh, please princess. You should know I'm familiar with killing." Mercury chuckled as he got into a fighting stance

Weiss lunged at him, and he parried it with his metal shin. 

"Not going to work, Princess." Mercury kicked her in the gut, and Weiss winced.

Weiss was out to kill, there was no way she was going to let such a monster get away with his life. She cast a glyph under her, and looked straight at Mercury. Mercury jumped back just as Weiss knew he would. As his feet hit the floor, a glyph showed beneath him and froze him in place. Mercury was taken aback, Weiss then catapulted herself at him. He barely managed to dodge her by ducking but she cut deeply into his trapezius. Mercury was struck with pain and fear, he winced as he broke into a run. Weiss did a 180 and ran after him. Weiss got closer and closer, he looked back and his eyes were wide in fear, he stopped and prepared to jump. Just as he was about to jump, Weiss slashed his back twice and made an X. This caused Mercury to fall over scream in pain. Weiss stood over him ready to make him suffer a world of pain. 

Suddenly, a roar of an ursa was heard, Weiss scanned around trying to find the source of the sound. Weiss saw an Ursa appear, followed by many beowolves behind it. Weiss prepared to cast many glyphs, before she did that she turned back only to realize Mercury was no longer on the floor. He was no where to be seen but that didn't matter for now, these grimm were threatening her life. She valued her life more than a monster's. Just as her glyphs were in place, the grimm started to dissolve into thin air. She was confused but caught on quickly, she was fooled into thinking she was in danger, which allowed Mercury to get away. She sighed and lowered Myrtemaster. She failed to avenge Ilia, but it was time for her to continue her search for Yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, I haven't written in forever but yeah I just binge wrote these.


	9. Close Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Ruby finally find the village and take the time to rest, but Yang meets someone unexpected.

-5 days after team WBY arrived-

_In the forest_

Yang and Ruby had found signs of life while walking around the forest but actual person yet. They had found campfires that were recently extinguished, and some tattered clothes. Yang and Ruby have had nothing to eat so far, they were beginning to get desperate. They sat down using a tree as a back rest and listened for life, between the silence they heard the call of a crow. 'This is odd' Yang thought, they haven't seen or heard a crow the entire time and now there is one? It hit Yang, "Ruby, get up I think we're close to the village." Yang exclaimed while pulling her little sister up. They started walking, then jogging, the calls kept getting louder and louder until finally they saw it. A small settlement, but lively nonetheless, people were friendly to each other, greeting one another as they walked by. Yang and Ruby rejoiced before walking toward the settlement. 

They walked into the village and tried to find their way to the inn, if they even had one. They were lost, there wasn't any signs telling them where everything was. An onlooker stared at them for quite and while before walking up to Yang,

"Hello! Are you new to the village?" the stranger asked with her head tilted,

"Oh! Yes, ummmm is there an inn that we can stay at? If there is where is it?" Yang questioned eager to get some rest.

"Oh, the inn is actually a tavern as well, it's actually just near the middle of the village. Just go straight then turn right, there'll be some uhhhh  _indication_ that you'll be able to tell it's the tavern."

Yang thanked the lady repeatedly before dragging Ruby by the hand. The lady stared at both Yang and Ruby run off towards the tavern. 

_At the Tavern_

"This was not expected." Yang remarked, she walked with Ruby's hand in hers because she put a blindfold on Ruby.

"Hey, sexy~ How about you play with us?" A woman with red hair asked while pushing her breasts against Yang's left arm.

Yang had to politely decline since she didn't want to get kicked out right after they got here. Yang reached the bar and sighed before signalling for the bartender. 

"Hello, Miss. How can I help you today?" A woman nearly Ruby's height, with long black hair asked Yang.

"How much is it to rent a room for 3 nights?" Yang asked

"It depends on whether you're here just to rest or if you're interested in a more  _special_ offer that we have."

"I'm just here to rest, thank you."

"Then it'll just be 1000 lien for 3 nights. Two beds and a bathroom. Anything else can be added on later. Payment will be when you leave. Your room is room 112, thank you and have a nice evening, Miss." 

Yang took the key from the lady and was surprised at how professional she was considering where she was. She liked it though, no mess, no fuss. She walked up the stairs making sure Ruby didn't trip.

 

_In room 112_

Yang and Ruby lay down onto their respective bed. Within minutes of laying down, Ruby was already sound asleep. Yang chuckled to herself, she couldn't blame her younger sister, especially after all she had been through. Yang sat up and opened her bag and counted out the lien she had. 3000 Lien, enough for the room, dinner and maybe a drink. She took 500 Lien out and left the rest in her bag before walking out of the room.

 

_At the bar_  

"Hey! Miss! Can I have a glass of Gin and Tonic?" Yang asked 

The bartender nodded and proceeded to prepare the drink. The bartender moved towards Yang and passed her the drink. Yang took the cup and began to sip, it had been quite a long time since she enjoyed any kind of alcohol, Weiss hated how Yang was when she was drunk and Blake hated the smell that came along with it. Yang put down the cup and sighed, it had been such a long 5 days and she'd found what she was looking for, now it was only a matter of waiting for the others. 

"Hey, kid." A man said

Yang looked around her and saw no one, until she looked at the furthest seat on her right.

"Whaddya doing at a place like this?" He asked

"I'm here on my own accord and I'd like to enjoy my drink alone, thank you very much." Yang didn't really want any company as of now but her train of thought was cut off by the man once again.

"Don't you know how to greet your own uncle?" The man looked up, red eyes, salt and pepper hair, and an oddly familiar necklace.

"UNCLE QROW?" Yang exclaimed

"Finally.... Some recognition around here."

Yang rushed towards the seat next to her uncle that she had not talked to in a long time.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission?" Yang questioned

"I still am, but you haven't answered me yet."

"Well, I'm here to search for Ruby and I've found her, thankfully."

"Wait....Hold on, you're telling me, that you've actually found her? How long have you been searching?" 

"5... days?"

"Are you sure that's Ruby?" Qrow was getting jittery 

"Are you okay, Uncle Qrow? But I'm pretty confident."

"I've been searching for her for 2 years. There's no way that who ever pulled it off would've let you find her that easily. Let me see her." Qrow clenched his fists,

"I don't think you're fit to see her in this state. She's sleeping right now, at least let her rest up first." 

"Kid, no, Yang. You don't understand, the picture that Ozpin showed you..... was taken a year ago. I was starting to give up but that picture led me to the same place you did. Here. I'm going to see her myself." Qrow stood up and walked towards the staircase.

Yang stood in front of Qrow, 

"No, I insist that you let her rest. She's my little sister and she's gone through a lot. She can't even speak anymore."

"She can't speak? What the fuck did they do to her? No, if that is Ruby that you found, I'm getting her out of here right now."

Qrow ran towards the room that Ruby was in.

"God damn it, Uncle Qrow!"

Yang chased after him with no hesitation.

 

_Outside Room 112_

Qrow slammed open the door, to see....... nothing.

"Uncle Qrow, how much does it take for you to under-"

"She isn't here, Yang."

"What do you mean? She should be on th-"

"Bed, right? She can't be in the bathroom, it's open. There shouldn't be a reason she would go out by herself."

"But it can't be a burglar, my bag is still here with everything in it."

Qrow sighed, "You could be having hallucinations, Yang. I'd advise you to wait on your team members and go back."

"I did not imagine her, I hugged her, she was real. I am not leaving without my little sister."

Qrow took a gulp from his hip flask before sighing again.

"I'm going to follow you to find her because right now, I'm 90 percent certain that you were hallucinating."

 

_In the village_

Yang and Qrow were walking around trying to spot Ruby, they even asked if any one had seen her but to no avail. While Yang was looking high and low for Ruby, Qrow felt that he was being observed, stalked and followed. He lead his niece down weird alleys trying to shake it off but it was still there. He looked around, there were only passers-by minding their own business. But something caught his eye, brown and pink eyes. He was sure his sister, Raven mentioned something about this to him before. He nudged his niece,

"Kid, by any chance you know any one that has, brown and pink eyes?"

"I remember someone like that, why?" Yang ruffled her eyebrows

"Tell me how you know that person."

"Well, it was a short girl, her eyes kept changing colors. Like, from brown to pink to white. She had pink and brown hair. I fought her on a train, she beat me pretty hard and I'm pretty certain she was working with Torchwick." 

"Great, tell you what, kiddo. Maybe we should not search for your sister right now."

"No we are-"

"We are not searching for her  _now_." 

Qrow used his right hand to guide Yang towards the center of the village, quickening his pace making sure that he could try and lose the stalker.

"Uncle Qrow, what did I say-"

"I didn't tell you to give up looking, I only mentioned now. We're being followed by Mrs. Pink and Brown."

"Wait, you saw her?" Yang's eyes turned red.

"Calm down kiddo, not a good place to fight. Try and internalize that for a while longer. I have a suspicion that 'Ruby' might be around."

Someone hit Qrow in the chest with a paper, he turned back and there wasn't any one. He opened the note, "Duck", it read. Without hesitation, Qrow put his hand on Yang's head and pushed her down while ducking as well. Something zipped over their heads barely missing, Qrow looked at where the projectile landed, it was an arrow. Qrow pulled his niece by the arm and started running. Yang didn't even stop him, and just went along making sure not to slow him down. 

They hid behind a house making sure that they were covered from where they were shot from. 

"Kid, have I ever told you what my semblance was?"

"No, but what does it have to do with what just happened?"

"My semblance is misfortune, I bring misfortune with me every where, and that's why I don't stay close to you and your sister. But someone already knew what my semblance was and passed me this note."

Yang read the note before looking at her uncle in confusion.

"How many people know of your semblance?" 

"Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood and now, you." 

"So just how did this person know to tell you to duck."

"I have no idea and I want to find out who it is. Not only that, that person just saved our damn lives. That arrow is nearly fully embedded into the ground. It would have killed both of us."

Yang and Qrow just kept quiet, unsure on what to do next. 

 

_Near the village_

"Fuck, how did he know? Neo, you have a new mission, split them up. Gold is being protected by him." Cinder was pissed off, she took so long to line up the perfect shot and took her chance, but some how he knew that she shot the arrow. It shouldn't have been possible, his awareness would not have allowed him to sense the arrow coming his way. She thought about it for a few seconds before coming to the conclusion.

"Red. You're here."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point I'm just writing whenever I feel the want to. I haven't had much motivation recently, so don't expect me to update often but please do leave feedback for me. I love improving myself as a writer.


	10. Mother and Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Qrow have an unexpected encounter with a certain someone. They soon realize that they have bigger things to worry about.

-5 days after team WBY arrived-

_In the forest_

Yang and Qrow decided that staying in the village wasn't the best of ideas. Yang paid for the three days even though they barely stayed the day, Qrow was always prepared to stay out in the forest. He always carried around a sleeping bag and a big piece of cloth that could be used as a roof for a make shift tent. 

Both of them were sat around a camp fire in complete and utter silence, the crackling of the fire was soothing for Yang and nostalgic for Qrow. 

"Hey, uncle Qrow?" Yang looked at Qrow with curious eyes.

"Yeah, kid?" Qrow was still staring at the fire.

"Why would Ozpin give us hope about Ruby?" 

"There are only two reasons Ozpin would tip you off like this. One, he was tipped off by an unknown information dealer that sightings of Ruby were recent. Or two, he's testing his theory. Using his own students as bait to lure out whoever killed or took Ruby." Qrow perked his ears up.

"Why would he use us as bait? Is he really willing to put his own students in danger?" Yang clenched her fists

"Well, to be fair he never puts his students in danger. He must think that you and your team is more than capable of handling whatever may come." Qrow turned around slowly and squinted his eyes into the darkness.

"Uncle Qrow what are you doing?"

"Kid, how much do you know about your mom?"

"Not much, why?"

"You'll finally see her again, just for a little while. Right, Raven?" Qrow glared into darkness of the forest.

"Seems like you've found me. Qrow" A cold voice replied. 

A woman walked towards the campfire. Her eyes ruby red, her long her that touched her back was pitch black. Her armor and clothing closely resembled what a samurai would wear. 

"Seems like you've been eavesdropping, sis."

"I was curious as to why you were he-" Raven stopped talking as she realized that there was another light source.

 Yang's eyes were as red as Raven's, her blonde hair was glowing gold. As Yang's gaze met Raven's, Yang was already close enough to Raven to get off just one punch, and Yang decided to place the punch perfectly at Raven's liver. Raven couldn't react in time to stop the punch from connecting, she was also underestimating Yang. Raven was sent a few meters back, she held the area where Yang hit. It stung, it had been a long time since someone could even step up to her. Yang's stare had not dropped, she was still rearing to go. Raven decided to test her own daughter, she unsheathed her sword. Raven decided to make the first move by dashing to Yang's front and brought her sword up to slash but was surprised to see that Yang jumped towards her instead of away. 

"You must have a death wish, Yang."

"Seems like you have one too, Mom"

It was only after Yang responded that Yang had her fist at Raven's chin. Raven's eyes widened, as she felt Yang's fist connect with her chin. Yang then decided to add an extra kick by shooting Ember Celica. Raven fell onto her back, she could still feel the pain from the first and second punch. 

"Kid, I think that's enough." Qrow cut in whilst preparing to drink from his hip flask.

Yang looked at Qrow and then back at Raven. Yang's eyes turned back into the original lilac color and walked back towards the campfire. Qrow sighed while looking at Raven.

"This wouldn't have happened if you decided to be there for her, sis. She wanted you in her life."

"I told you before, Q-"

"Shut the fuck up, Mom! You don't have a right to speak, you abandoned me, dad AND Ruby. I doubt any reason could be a reasonable one." Yang's eyes turned red as she clenched her fists.

"Calm down, kid. We need to save energy for the people hunting us."Qrow said as he got up to pat Yang's back.

Yang sat down beside Qrow and Raven sat across them. 

"Why are you here, sis?"

"There have been unusual sightings of unknown people around this area. They haven't made contact with any of the villages in the area, which is weird considering that they should have run out of food by now."

"How long ago was the first sighting?"

"Three months ago. There is no way a person can pack three months of food in a small backpack."

"This person.... what do they wear?"

"A red cape."

"That's it?"

"As far as we have observed. Yes."

"Any weapons?"

"No."

"Did you see her eyes?" Yang questioned.

"No. We haven't been able to get anyone close enough before alerting them."

The leaves rustled, Yang, Raven and Qrow stared in the direction of the sound. One pair of red eyes, two, three, four....... There was at least 20 grimm in their vicinity.

"Looks like we have company for the night" Qrow sighed as he got up and readied his weapon.

Yang and Raven nodded before getting into a battle stance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, things have been a little tough recently. Not financial wise just people wise, I'm sorry this chapter took so long.


End file.
